Maggie said that she hopes the flea problem in Missouri is not as bad as Houston and that she finds regular shampoo as effective as flea shampoo for killing fleas. I just wanted to say first of all, the flea problem in Missouri (or was that Minnesota?) is indeed probably not as bad as Houston. We get a bit of a respite from outdoor fleas here in the north where the winters are cold. It's a good time to regroup and plan strategy. On the shampoo question, I can't believe an unmedicated shampoo kills fleas as well as flea shampoo. Without the insecticide component, you are merely drowning the fleas. I have been experimenting with killing fleas for 15 or 20 years (mostly on cats) and those little guys are tough. I have caught them with my bare hands, squished them with my fingernails, drowned them, caught them on combs and squirted them with flea spray, etc. etc. and every experience taught me that fleas are very hard to kill. With 19 ferrets in the house, I think the only way to rid yourself of them is a surgical application of vile chemicals. I hate the toxic stuff, too, but you don't have to use very much to get them out of the house. In the summer of 1995, I struggled with a flea problem for weeks and weeks before I finally gave in and bombed the house. We have had no fleas since then. While I completely understand objections to the exposure of people and pets to chemicals, flea infestation is a health issue, too. If you do decide to go toxic, I recommend a flea bomb, simply because bombing twice, two weeks apart, will annihilate your fleas and you will not have to use any more poisons at least until the next flea season. The key is not to be squeamish, because if you leave any of the little devils alive, you might as well not have done anything. Good luck! I have also heard that Program works for ferrets, but it might be prohibitively expensive for 19 of them. (You are a braver woman than I!) To all, thanks for the comments on Mithril's anal glands. Our vet did mention the possibility that she was only partially descented. I was enchanted by the exciting possibility that she might not be spayed. I am still hoping that we can excise her nippiness along with her ovaries, but perhaps we will have to do a simple nippectomy. I'll let you all know in the spring. (She was indeed too young to go into heat last breeding season). -Catherine -Sebastian "Fleas? Cool, can we have some?" -Mortimer "What do you think of my new winter coat?" -Mithril "I will be one year old next month!" [Posted in FML issue 1765]